China says two overseas corruption suspects return home

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

BEIJING (Reuters) - Two Chinese men who fled abroad after being suspected of corruption have returned home to face charges, China’s anti-graft watchdog said on Friday, the latest suspects caught up in a sweeping campaign by the leadership to tackle graft.

One of the suspects was identified as Zhu Haiping, general manager of Shenzhen Yuwei Industry Co., who fled to the United States in 1998 after coming under suspicion of fraud, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on its website.

The second suspect, Guo Liaowu, a deputy manager of a company called Wuhan Iron and Steel Group Mining Co., fled to Australia in 2010 after being suspected of bribery, the commission said.

Both “chose to return to their country to give themselves up”, the commission said.

A spokeswoman for Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said neither Bishop nor her department were aware of the circumstances of Guo’s return from Australia to China.

China has vowed to pursue an overseas search dubbed Operation “Fox Hunt” for corrupt officials and business executives, and their assets.

It has been pushing for extradition treaties with various countries but Western countries have been reluctant to help, not wanting to send people to a country where rights groups say mistreatment of suspects is a concern.

The CCDI said more than 381 corruption suspects had been repatriated from more than 40 countries.

China last year urged the United States to start talks on an extradition treaty, something the United States has been reluctant to do.